Beyond The Impossible

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Dmitry Voron yawns as he checks the bio-monitors for what feels like the thousandth time.
According to the instrumentation inside the transparent cylinder that contains the body of Leral, the Lampyrian is holding up remarkably well.

Especially considering that she’s dead and without a head.

Not much has changed for months: the Drylon device inside her is still operating, and the machinery connected to it has been using its power to manipulate time without a single glitch.

Until now: without any warning, the device’s energy consumption spikes rapidly.

<Noriko? The device is… acting up.> Dmitry says through the radio transmitter.

<Any changes in Leral’s life signs?> she asks.

<Not at all, everything is within the usual… hold on.> he replies, stopping to witness something he didn’t expect: Leral is convulsing, with her muscles being activated by the same electrical surge that is leaking sparks out of her severed neck. Then everything stops a couple of seconds later.

<What’s going on? Dmitry?>

<I think the device short-circuited. Maybe it finally detected Leral’s death, maybe running on a deceased host for months damaged it, but whatever it is… it’s not working anymore.>

<Which means that time is flowing naturally now. Crap, this is the worst time for that!>

<Please tell me you’re close to finishing your weapon, Noriko.>

<I would be if we didn’t just lose the chance to manipulate the speed of time… it’s going to take months to power up the sword without Leral’s device.>

<And I assume we don’t have months?>

<Not anymore. Pack your things, we’re going back to the universe… I need backup.>

 

Homeworld Security Office, Washington D.C.

When he resigned from his job as senator to head a newly created branch of the government, Todd Slate knew his life wouldn’t get any easier.

When Kari Zel enters his office, that’s the confirmation: he knows that Noriko would never delegate a visit to her right-hand woman if it wasn’t for serious reasons.

<Kari, it’s been a while. How are the twins?> he asks, shaking her hand; aside from Noriko she’s by far the member of the Vanguard that he knows the most… there was always at least one of her duplicates at Null Tower when he was working there.

<They’re wonderful, but let’s just say I’m glad we don’t always have to live on the same planet as my kids.>

<I suppose this isn’t a social visit. Is Noriko in danger? Last time we met she didn’t look like she was entirely sure she’d making back to Earth.>

<Of course she’s in danger, she’s Noriko. Look Todd, I’ll go straight to the point: you know how Earth’s location was unknown to most hostile gods? That’s gone now.>

<Noriko told me when she was dealing with Apollo. So we can expect an attack at any moment?>

<Yep. Ares is going to reach Earth in less than 12 hours.>

<But the Vanguard can stop him, right?>

<Well… Noriko has a plan. A very dangerous plan because, you know, she’s Noriko. The problem is that we are not entirely sure that she can implement it before Ares gets here.>

<I see. And what is this plan?>

<Oh it’s a, uhm, it’s very… there’s no need to go through it, really.>

<She didn’t tell you the plan.> Todd deduces.

<No of course she didn’t, when does she ever tell us her plans!?>

<Then what do you want me to do, Kari? Ask the President to declare an emergency or…>

<I’m going to turn on Midgard City’s planetary shield, you know, the one she built in Antarctica. It’s not going to stop Ares of course, but it should keep his ships away if they manage to pass through the blockade.>

<What blockade?>

<Oh, right. There is a fleet of Amazon ships coming this way, they will patrol the outer edges of the solar system. Obviously there’s no way to completely block access to such a wide area, but since the Palladium is still preventing faster-than-light travel within this system it might help.>

<Is the public going to notice? Noriko was pretty light on the details of the planetary shield.>

<Oh yeah, the entire sky is going to light up. You might want to warn Earth that it’s not the end of the world… not yet, anyway.>

<Couldn’t you have given me a little more time!?> Todd protests.

<We’re giving Earth some warning before doomsday. Speaking from personal experience, it’s not something that every planet gets.>

<I guess this is where this thing is supposed to come in handy.> Todd says, taking something out of his pocket: a small coin, with Ø on one side and ∞ on the other.

<Noriko told me that this thing would be Earth’s last line of defense, if the planetary shield wasn’t enough. That it should be used as last resort because it would either save the planet or destroy it.>

<I know. As her second-in-command, I’m the only other person to know about it. That’s why I came to you, Todd… not just because I need your help to warn the planet. But to warn you to be ready to activate the last resort at any moment.>

<Of course. The situation must be really desperate for Noriko to resort to this!>

<That’s what warries me the most. When she’s put in a corner, Noriko has a tendency to take spectacularly risky decisions…>

Kandinsky Crater, Mercury’s north pole

120 million miles from Earth

Hermes has been bored before: like all immortals, eternal boredom is his real nemesis. But nothing compares to being locked in a cell, completely alone and with nothing to do, for months and months. With his divine powers still blocked by the necrobots injected into his body by Anubis, his only option has been to just wait for things to go his way.

Which is why, when he sees the only mortal who could kill him with extreme ease casually walk into the room, he’s elated instead of afraid.

<Sunshine! Oh how have I longed to see your pretty…>

<Save it. I don’t have time for your bulls#it.> Noriko Null interrupts him, walking up to the cell’s forcefield and holding up her newly created sword. Even without his powers, Hermes can feel the strength of the magnetic field generated by the scabbard.

<My my, what a strange device. What are you holding in there? Antimatter?>

<This sword will be able to kill any god. You’re going to help me finish its construction.>

<Ah, sunshine, you seem to have forgotten that this might be a slight conflict of interest for me! Why would I assist you in the creation of something that could kill me?>

<I don’t need it to kill you, Hermes. It’s meant for much bigger gods.>

<The question still stands, sunshine. What do I get out of it?>

<I know how to deactivate the necrobots; that’ll restore your powers. I wish I knew how to recreate them to depower Ares, but…>

<So that is what this is about? Then I’m in, but with one condition.>

<Don’t make me laugh! You’re not holding any cards at the moment, Hermes.>

<With the likely exception of your lovely mother, sunshine, I’m the last person you would ask for help. You must be really, really desperate to come to me. But don’t worry, I am not going to ask for a night of passion in return for my assistance: only to be given freedom.>

<Hermes… if I don’t kill Ares, he’s going to destroy Earth. When he’s done with that, you’ll be the next target.>

<So I either risk my death at his hands or at yours, if I’m confined to this prison. I am the god of merchants, sunshine, and that doesn’t sound like a good deal to me.>

<Dammit, Hermes. Your powers and your freedom in exchange for your help, is that your price?>

<Indeed it is. The night of passion is complimentary.>

<This is probably a bad idea.> Noriko sighs; her silver eyes shine as she sends a very specific instruction to the facility’s computer systems, and an electromagnetic signal is generated.

 

N01-Ragnarok, stationed one light-year from Earth

Vesta has never been comfortable in strategy meetings: they remind her too much of the family gathering where her pantheon decided the fate of the Galaxy.

Only Kari is on the ship: everybody else is a hologram. Torn and Agony are in Hell, Helen of Troy is on Delos, and Queen Tecmessa is on her own ship.

<Your man failed his mission. We should all attack at once.> the Amazon queen says.

<Quantum managed to severely damage Ares’ armor, just like our fleet did. We might have a shot now, even if Noriko doesn’t show up.> Kari says.

<The Demon army is eager to attack.> Torn adds.

<My Oracles are also ready. Although they are sane enough not to be eager.> Helen says.

<That’s great, but let’s not kid ourselves: even damaged, Ares is still powerful enough to wipe the floor with all of our armies combined.> Kari reminds them.

<We are in space. There is no floor.> Agony comments.

<Ares is still 2,700 light-years from Earth. If we give Noriko a little more time…> Kari suggests.

<I should go. I’m the only one who has a chance against him.> Vesta finally speaks up.

<Vesta, even with your power-up… his armor protected him against Apollo’s supernovas!>

<And I fought Apollo to a standstill. I’ve been waiting to fight Ares for over two thousand years, Kari… I know what I’m up against.> Vesta continues.

<He has grown considerably more powerful than the last time you faced him.> Helen reminds her.

<So have I. And I don’t like to point that out, but I’m the only one of us who can’t die.>

<Sorry to remind you, dear, but Ares IS powerful enough to kill a Class-3 god.> Helen insists.

<He won’t kill me until he’s exhausted any other chance to make me suffer. That’s how Ares thinks. Remember, he didn’t need to waste so much time to reach Earth… he could’ve opened a portal, just like he did to reach Hell. But he didn’t. We wants us to give up any hope of defeating him long before he shows up. And I’m not going to do that.> she vows, her eyes catching fire as she walks out of the conference room with a mission on her mind.

 

Asgard Station, Null Zone

Hermes sits down at the computer station, spinning the chair a couple of times and then placing his feet on the nearest surface as he relaxes.

<Impressive setup you have here, sunshine. You’ve created an interface with the Shadow Network of the Lar? I thought it went off-line ages ago!>

<I fixed it. And please get your feet off the controls.>

<Your portal technology is really quite impressive, I have to say. The Shadow Network portals are rather primitive, but I see that you have configured your systems to exploit them to carry out scans on a galactic scale.>

<It’s still in its early stages. As of now it can be used to detect highly energetic cosmic phenomena; I wanted to use it as warning system for supernovas.>

<If you’re looking for exploding stars, sunshine, you shouldn’t have killed Apollo.>

<Supernovas are easy enough to find, but I can’t use them to charge the sword… they release all their energy in a radius, and there’s no way to concentrate enough of that in such a narrow space. No, what I’m looking for are GRBs… Gamma Ray Bursts. You know what those are?>

<A neutron star that merges with a black hole? That’s the most energetic naturally occurring event in the entire universe… even gods tend to stay away from those beasts!>

<I need one of those to power up the sword; it won’t absorb all of it, sure, but it’ll power up in a second. Unfortunately GRBs are exceedingly rare in a single galaxy; the Shadow Network can detect one almost anywhere in the observable universe, but that could be millions or even billions of light-years away from Earth… way out of range for my Portal Generator or even the Keys of Heaven, especially since the kind of GRB I’m looking for only lasts a fraction of a second. There’s only one way to reach one in time… the god of speed himself.>

<Oh, Noriko, my dearest sunshine… your beauty and genius are only matched by your sheer insanity. You do realize that your plan is the very definition of overkill, right?>

<Slaughtering three quarters of the population of Hell was overkill, Hermes. This is payback.> Noriko clarifies, and the determination behind her glowing silver eyes sends chills down the god’s spine.